Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
by KratosLeonidasRenascitur
Summary: Book one in a huge complicated series I have planned. Focuses on Percy's first quest. Slightly different choices here make the future massively different. (I know I'm s*** at summaries)
1. IMPORTANT!

**Chapter 1: This Story and It's Future**

**This individual story will follow the original Lightning Thief somewhat closely compared to later stories in the series as well as being rated T. This makes it the exception not the rule. Later stories in this series will be quite different from the canon Percy Jackson universe and will be rated from M to MA. **

**Refer to Profile Disclaimer for information on all the things I do not own.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Did I Imagine It All?**

**Refer to Profile Disclaimer for information on all the things I do not own.**

Look, I don't want to be a half-blood. That's a lie. In the beginning, I didn't want to, now I would never trade this world for a normal one. These people just mean too much to me. If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth and try to lead a normal life. Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, the gods love playing with your life while "not interfering" and that usually gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My name is Percy Jackson. Am I a troubled kid? Depends on the day. I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan; twenty-eight not-so-mentally-stable kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I know it sounds like a concussion waiting to happen because someone fell asleep standing up. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman and Greek armor/weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't regularly put me to sleep.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

Boy, was I wrong.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich. What kind of psychopath eats peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwiches? Or maybe that wasn't ketchup and Nancy should be pitching for the Yankees…

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Anyway, Nancy was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.

"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues, rusty swords, and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top and started telling us how it was a tombstone, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was sixty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy and figured I was worse than devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," really sweet, and I knew I was going to get detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut the fuck up?"

That came out way louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

My face was red. I said, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the carving and felt a flush of relief because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" **(AN: Foreshadowing much?)**

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."

"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.

"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... there was a prophecy, so he didn't trust his kids, who were the Olympians. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead **(AN: how psychologically handicapped do you have to be that you wait until kid #6 to say, "Hmm this seems wrong."?)**. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-" "Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. "-and so, there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered.

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I thought about his question and shrugged. "History?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's like that old saying, 'those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' Kronos didn't learn from his experience with his father, so he was overthrown by his children." **(AN: This is Percy trying to BS his way out of trouble. A lot of stories rely on Percy acting stupid for conflict and most of them are not very good reads. I'm not making Percy an Athena camper by any means, at least not until he is older and gets a lot more experience, and there will be some 'well duh' moments, but he is not going to be acting completely brain dead.)**

Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine **(AN: So, if Dionysus invented wine and he wasn't born until centuries later, as he was a demigod for the first giant war, how did this happen?)**, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go, his intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.

"About the Titans?"

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No. he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele as if he'd been at this girl's funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?" I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little way uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy appeared in front of me with her ugly Friends. I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"

"-the water-"

"-like it grabbed her-"

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."

That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.

"But-"

"You-will-stay-here."

Grover looked at me desperately.

"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."

Nancy smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she got there so fast? I have moments like that a lot when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I wasn't so sure.

I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently, that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.

I said, "I'm not sure what you mean, ma'am." The building shook.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Well?" she demanded.

I measured my options. "Ma'am, I don't..." I started.

"Your time is up," she hissed.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her leather jacket melted into large, demonic wings. She wasn't human just like Grover said. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. Then things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. "What ho, Percy!" he shouted and tossed the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword. Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. She snarled, "Die godling!"

And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. "Hisss!"

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand which I put in my pocket for later use.

Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I said, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

He said, "Who?"

But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."

Thunder boomed overhead.

I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book as if he'd never moved. I went over to him.

He looked up, a little distracted. "Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared at me blankly. "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all

right?"

**(AN: Sorry for all the author's notes and the fact that there wasn't a lot of original content in this chapter and I felt the need to explain certain choices/situations that will be explored later. A few questions for those who will continue reading this story and I would like help deciding on.**

**1\. Should Percy bail on Yancy early? I feel that he should get a few more weeks training in before his quest or his quest but the original book didn't have that.**

**2\. I know that it's a bit early to think about this but who should Percy get into a relationship with later?**

**3\. Who should Percy take on his quest?)**


	3. Chapter 2

**[AN: Thank you to Anonymously96 for the input/review on the last chapter. Percy is going to be going to camp earlier in this story. Percabeth might not be possible because of certain plot points I had in mind for this first story. The first quest in the canon series set up their entire friendship and later relationship so I will see what I can do in the series after this story without making it sound like most of my other writing (completely and utterly crazy). -Sincerely, Kratos Leonidas Renascitur.]**

**Chapter 2: My Latin Teacher Totally Wasn't Planning to Kidnap Me**

The ride back to Yancy was long and boring but somehow quick at the same time. I kept fingering the pen in my pocket **(AN: No, this is not a euphemism. He is talking about Riptide. Stop reading the lines in between the lines in between the lines. Childish.) **and stealing quick glances at Grover and Mr. Brunner. My skin hadn't stopped crawling since the museum. I felt exposed.

Then the realization hit me. I had killed someone.

Maybe I hadn't. I had asked Mr. Brunner and he said that there was no Mrs. Dodds. So if there was no Mrs. Dodds then I couldn't have killed Mrs. Dodds. I had hallucinated her for months. Did that mean I hallucinated her one last time and killed someone else in her place?

I yanked my hands out of my pockets and looked down at them, palm up. Then I flipped them over to see the back side of my hands. No blood, just tiny specs of golden dust.

My thoughts went back to the pen in my pocket. If I uncapped it right-

"Percy, come on man. The bus stopped." It was Grover. I looked up and he was right. The bus had stopped, and everybody was shoving each other trying to get off first and make their way back to the dorms.

I stood up and did as they did. Walking back to the dorms I kept thinking about the museum and kept coming to the same conclusion: Mr. Brunner had to know what was going on. He was the one that brought me the pen/sword. So, why did he deny that Mrs. Dodds existed? Maybe he didn't want to talk about in public… but that was a museum with tons of people, security cameras, and stuff. Someone had to have seen what had happened. Was he scared of getting caught?

By this time, we had gotten back to the dorms. My thoughts went like this in circles clogging up my brain so I couldn't do anything else. I stopped trying to do homework and laid on my bed. After a while, Grover said he had to go do something.

After he left, I turned to look out the window. It was surprisingly to dark. I closed the blinds and took the pen out of my pocket. Moment of truth; if this pen was just a pen, I needed some serious help; if this pen turned into a sword, I needed to talk to Mr. Brunner. I flicked off the cap and hoped I had it the right way around. The cap fell to the floor in slow motion but before it had the chance to hit the pen was a familiar three feet of bronze. The sword was the same as before, perfectly balanced **(AN: As all things should be.)**, double-edged, leather wrapped handle, and sharp.

That was it, time to go see Mr. Brunner. Maybe he would tell me what really happened if we were in private. As I walked through the halls to Mr. Brunner's office I was listening for the loud footsteps and key jingles of any administrators or teachers. When I rounded the corner to the hall with Mr. Brunner's office, I saw the lights were on. Not only that but I could hear voices. I was about to turn around and go back to my dorm, but I recognized the other voice. It was Grover.

What was he doing talking to Mr. Brunner at this hour? Even crazier thoughts force their way in place of my previous thoughts. Suddenly the memory of the terrified look that Grover had shot Mr. Brunner when he watched Mrs. Dodds lead me into the museum popped into my mind. It occurred to me that Grover must have known what was going on the whole time. He knew how dangerous Mrs. Dodds was. Grover also knew that Mrs. Dodds wasn't human. But Grover had lied to me the same as Mr. Brunner. Had Grover and Mr. Brunner planned this? There was one was way to find out. It's not like they would hurt me. If they had wanted to, they had plenty of chances to do so already. Grover was my dormmate, for heck sake **(AN: Trying to keep it "T" here.)**.

Before I could lose my nerve, I stepped out from the shadows, stuck one hand in my pocket to make sure that I had the pen/sword ready just in case, used the other to turn the handle and open the door. I did not find whatever I was expecting.

Standing, yes standing, behind his desk was Mr. Brunner with some kind of fur wrapped around his legs. Grover was sitting in the chair closest to the door with some other kind of fur wrapped around his with hooves in place of feet. I must have been shocked because it took me a few moments to realize that Mr. Brunner had a bow, with an arrow notched and drawn, pointed at me. Leaving the pen in my pocket I put both hands into the air non-threateningly.

"So-"

"Shut the door Percy." Mr. Brunner said as he lowered his bow, which made me feel a little better. I did as he said and then sat in the chair next to Grover.

"What are you doing here Percy?"

"I wanted to ask you about what happened at the museum."

A few seconds passed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about Mrs. Dodds."

"Like I said before Percy-"

"I know, I know there was never a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy… Except I know there was a flying demon thing that called itself Mrs. Dodds because it tried to kill me, and Grover is terrible at lying."

"I'm not-" Mr. Brunner put his hand up silencing Grover.

Looking at me Mr. Brunner, with an unknown emotion on his face, asked, "What would you like to know?"

"What are you guys?"

"Grover is a satyr and I am a centaur."

"Like in your stories?"

"They are not 'my' stories but yes. All the gods, monsters, nymphs, and other creatures do exist."

"So that was the answer to your question? I needed to know all the myths because they would be trying to kill me?"

"Not all of them are trying to kill you. In fact, Grover and I are trying very hard to protect you."

"Why?"

"My real name is Chiron. I have trained demigods for millennia. Usually, these demigods are brought to me at Camp Half-Blood, by the satyrs, but occasionally there is the rare case, like yourself when I come to see for myself."

"So, you were planning on having Grover kidnap me? And what do you mean demigods?"

"We were not planning on kidnapping you," Grover said indignantly, "all demigods have a choice whether they go to camp or not. They just tend to live longer if they do."

"It is a sad fact that monsters like to hunt, kill, and eat demigods or rather the children of full gods and a mortal," Chiron explained further.

"But I'm not a demigod."

"Remember the sword I threw to you at the museum, Percy? That was Celestial Bronze it can only harm those with godly or monstrous blood. In fact, you would not have even been able to catch the sword had you been mortal. Even if you had been able to see the sword it would have passed straight through you like a mirage."

I thought about this for a few seconds.

"Why did you lie about Mrs. Dodds?"

"When demigods learn about their heritage it makes their scent grow by a lot making more monsters attracted to them. We were hoping we could fool you so that your scent would stay unnoticeable."

"We saw how well that worked out."

"Yes. Well, now you have a choice to make. Do you want to go to camp or would you like to try to stay in the mortal world a little longer?"

I know what you're gonna say about this, "You had to think about either sticking around middle school or going off to train to be a hero?" yes, yes I did. At first, I was going to say yes. I figured I was failing all of my classes anyways and I really would rather not fight another Mrs. Dodds, or whatever, but then I thought about my mom.

"What about my mom?"

"Should you choose to go to camp I will contact your mother and tell her of what happened."

"Will I get to see her again?"

"At the end of every summer every camper has the choice of leaving to go back into the mortal world or staying for a year-round course."

I thought this over. I wanted to stay with my mom but if I did that without training, I would just be putting her in danger. I made my choice.

"How do I get to camp?"

"Go back to your dorm and get some rest. Grover will drive you to camp first thing in the morning."

After we had gotten back to the dorm, Grover spoke, "I wasn't lying, Percy."

"What?"

"I wasn't lying about being your friend. I want you to know that."

We had done a lot together. Together we had sold candy illegally, pranked Nancy Bobofit, given each other answers to the homework the other had forgotten to do, and tons of other stuff. We had suffered through Algebra, English, and Nancy's torment for almost an entire school year. Add that along with my ADHD and I don't think anyone could fake liking **(AN: as a friend)** me for that long.

"I know."

**[AN: And that's the end of chapter three. I know my sense of humor is bad, so I hope you guys/girls liked the little jokes and memes I sprinkled in there. Some people are probably wondering why I am asking for input on the story if I had everything 'planned out'. The truth is I have a loose overall arc along with a few details to change and ways to tie this story universe to others. Other than that, I have no idea what is going on. I just of write things (see what I did there?) and hope it doesn't sound dumb. Now that I explained I'm not just being an a**hole I have a few questions for you guys.**

**1\. ****Who should Percy be with?**

**2\. ****Who should Percy take on his quest with him?**

**3\. ****How long should the quest take approximately? I enjoy thinking about how it was normal for the original mythological to take months, years, or decades and how Riordan managed to shorten that to days, weeks, and months (at most).**

**4\. ****Should Percy have his 'demigod dreams'? This Percy is gonna be a considerable amount less 'obtuse' (as Riordan put it) than in canon. So, I guess the real question is, do you guys want an easy way to read the answer to things or should I rely more on Percy recognizing the details?**

**Thanks for the input in advance and thank you to Anonymously96 again.]**


	4. Chapter 3

**[AN: Have you guys seen Avengers: Endgame yet? I went to a 7:00 showing opening night and I'm still in awe. Like if Infinity War was level one, Endgame kicked it to eleven. All the Easter eggs, music, lighting, and emotion were on point (these people love their jobs). I could never hope to tell a story a thousandth as good as that. So naturally, I will set myself up for failure and shoot for one-thousandth of Endgame. Alright, enough fanboying.**

**Thank you to the 4 readers that followed, 3 that favorited, and Anonymously96 for reviewing (again).**

**Yes, someone has already stolen Zeus' master bolt and Hades' helm of darkness, same as canon, but I want to keep my options open with everything. I also wanted to get Grover out looking for Pan ASAP and have less important support characters so I can focus on developing Percy as much as possible. I want to reasonably get him from where he is now (mentally and emotionally) to the point he will be at until book five so in the time in between, I can focus on the action and support characters, their developments, and their interactions with Percy. As for Percabeth what I meant was I wanted ideas of a less popular long-term couple to do. PercyxArtemis, PercyxThalia, PercyxBianca, PercyxReyna, PercyxZoe, PercyxAthena, PercyxNico, PercyxLuke, PercyxJason, PercyxSadie, PercyxCalypso, or something like that. I have played with a few possible scenarios for some of these (not as much as I have for PercyxAnnabeth though) and didn't really like any of them so I was hoping for something random but do-able to experiment with. Of course, I'm going to keep as many options open for as long as possible and Percy isn't going to be starting any deep relationship like that this book but we got 9 to 26 books to go (depending on where I feel like stopping) so… yeah HMU with an input you wanna give and I'll do my best to experiment with it and see if I can write it good enough for someone other than my crazy self to read. (Sorry for the rant.)]**

**Chapter 3: Why Are There So Many Creepy Old Ladies?**

Apparently, cars suck. That was all Grover would talk about during the ride.

"These pedals aren't very hoof friendly."

"Cars are so bad for the environment. At best combustion driven engines are 20% energy efficient **(AN: Heard this on an "Outrageous Acts of Science" episode I think. Energy and fuel efficiency are two different things. Chill.)**."

"This traffic causes so much pollution it's a wonder the Kindly One was able to sniff you out at all."

"STUPID HUMANS!"

Now, this may make me a bad friend, scratch that I know this makes me a bad friend, but I tuned Grover out after the first twenty minutes or so of this. I watched out the window as the not-so-scenic New England roadside passed by.

After a few hours, we stopped at a gas station. While Grover watched the employee pumping gas to make sure we weren't getting overcharged, I went inside to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was one of those bathrooms that attached to the back of the building and was padlocked shut. The lady at the register gave me the key and I walked around back. After I finally got the rusted padlock open, I did what I had come to do, locked it back, and started to make my way back to the front of the building. As I was walking on the sidewalk that ran beside the building and a fence that was overgrown with ivy an old lady stepped into my path. I stopped. I could have sworn she wasn't there a second ago.

"Perseus Jackson."

My hand instantly went to my pocket, where Riptide seemed to turn colder than that block of dry ice, I made the mistake of touching once.

"There is no need for that."

"Why? Who are you?"

"You do not need to take that sword out because I am not here to harm you. I am only here to meet the one that my daughters have been so obsessed over **(AN: Reading that back… It sounds way creepier and, in a way, that I did not intend but we'll roll with it.)**. As for who I am… hmm… You may call me τον κλώστη."

It wouldn't register until later, but my mind translated:_ The Spinner. _That caught me off guard. I expected something like Mrs. Dodds 2.0 or Hell Demon. It didn't comfort me much and I still half expected her to grow leathery wings and attack me, but I relaxed slightly and asked,

"Who are your daughters?"

"Look at you. So quick to get more information. I like you. Looking forward to the future just like me. But I won't spoil the surprise for you. It's not long now till you meet them, and they try to influence you."

"Influence me how?"

"Didn't I just say I wasn't going to spoil the surprise?"

I was getting a bit frustrated at this point and it must have shown because she started laughing.

"Anyways," she continued, "They can't influence you like they can everyone else so they have to take a more direct approach to ensure what you will choose later. But since you gave me a gift no one has given me in a while, something to laugh at, I will give you a gift in return."

She surged forward way faster than she should have been able to, grabbed my free arm with one hand and touch my forehead with her other hand.

"You are now free of my daughters' indirect influence. Introduce a little anarchy." **(AN: Who knows where I got the idea for the last sentence? I'll give you a hint. It both starts and ends with 't'.)**

And with that, she was gone.

PLINK.

I looked down and saw I had dropped the key to the bathroom. The feeling came back to my hands. I left Riptide in my pocket, pulled my hand, then looked at both of them. Back and front. After a few seconds, I figured I didn't really feel any different, so I bent down, picked up the key, and brought it back to the lady at the cash register.

When I got back in the car Grover asked me if I was okay. I said I was and was sure Grover didn't believe me, but he didn't try to get me to talk about it.

We rode for about another hour before smoke started coming from under the hood of the car. Grover got out to see if he could get it to stop. I got out because the car was getting hot. We were right beside one of those roadside fruit stands. There were three old ladies. I should have learned my lesson earlier, really, I should have but it was hot and there was shade.

When I walked up two of the three seemed to be arguing over something. As I got closer I heard something along the lines of, "Where did you put the scissors?" which earned the reply, "What do you mean, 'what did I do with the scissors?' you always do the cutting? Where did you put the scissors?" I noticed a huge, like big foots XXXL sized, sock they must have knitted. I listened to them squabble for a few minutes and pretended to look at the fruit until I noticed a gleam near the silent one's foot.

"Are you looking for those?" I said, pointing to the shiny set of shears.

"Yes. Thank you, Perseus Jackson."

That got my attention. I looked a little closer and saw they looked vaguely similar to the woman at the gas station. Her daughters. That must have been what she meant, "It's not long now till you meet them…" I took a step back. They cut the sock and tied it off. Then they went to cut an extra piece of yarn, maybe eighteen inches long **(AN: Yes, I'm a filthy American.)**, but when the shears closed around it there was a clang and the yarn pushed out of the end like they were trying to cut steel cable. Their faces changed from grim anticipation (left), sadness (middle), and maniacal glee (right/cutter) to shock.

"I FIXED IT!" That was Grover. I turned quickly and sprinted back to the car.

"What's wrong?" Grover asked when he saw my face. I just shook my head. He turned to the fruit stand and paled. Looking back to the road he floored the gas.

**[AN: There you guys go. Chapter 3. Took me just under two hours to do this (I multitask). Just had to find a day with the free time to do it. Next chapter: The Minotaur, Easter eggs, introduction to camp, and some random stuff.**

**1\. ****Should I do shorter updates but update more often or keep going like I am and gradually make them longer and longer?**

**2\. ****Who should Percy be with?**

**3\. ****Who should Percy take on his quest with him?**

**4\. ****How long should the quest take approximately?**

**5\. ****Should Percy have his 'demigod dreams'?]**


	5. Chapter 4

**[AN: Thank you to the four that favorited, five that followed, and Anonymously96 (again) and Nordia Gral for reviewing.**

**Yes, the first woman that Percy met in the last chapter was Ananke. She was the one that made strings of fate that the Fates, her daughters, picked, wove, and cut. This string was thought to be made on a spinning wheel, hence the name _The Spinner_. She changed the most basic properties of Percy's string so the Fates trying to make Percy's fate fit would go from quantum physics level complicated to straight chaos. Chaos or anarchy. (Anarchy from Ananke. Get it?) I was reading back through and thought the last line between them was a bit bland and saw my Batman mug on my desk. I thought back to The Dark Knight and couldn't resist the pun.**

**"and longer length as books I guess" I'm not sure if this is a statement or question or what. If you are asking about word count it will most likely be a little lower than canon if we are talking about PJO and HoO content only. After all, is said and done it will be longer than canon and a bit more spread out. Chapters wise it will most definitely be longer than canon (I know. I'm slow and I suck. I know okay.).]**

**Chapter 4: Grover Drags My Sorry A** to Camp**

Grover had woken me up to say we were almost there. The sky had gotten darker since I last looked. I wasn't sure if it was the clouds or the time. I thought about that as is it started to rain.

There was a boom and I turned just in time to see a tree catch on fire from the lightning. The lightning seemed to be following us as this happened several more times. Suddenly one of the strikes didn't stop on impact with the ground. There was a blue light then the lightning turned black, red, and yellow. It moved down the road zooming past the car. As the lightning passed the windows shattered and half a second later the car exploded.

I awoke just in time to get a raindrop to the eyeball. I sat up and looked around. What was left of the car was burning on the wrong side of the road. I started to look for Grover, only to find him lying unconscious about eight feet away from me.

Someone must have dragged us away from the wreck. Who? Grover and I were the only ones in 'our' car and there were no other cars.

I jumped out of my thoughts when I heard a mix between a roar and a moo that made Times Square on new years seem silent. I rushed to Grover and tried to shake him awake.

"Grover! Come on man. You need to get up. We need to get to camp."

"Wha-" Another moo/roar. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared. It made Grover get up faster but also told me whatever was making the noise was getting a lot closer way faster than I would have liked.

Grover bolted to the road with me right behind him. He turned right and started sprinting down the road. We went like that until I was almost out of breath. Then Grover turned off the road, started up a hill, and yelled back to me, "Come on Percy! We just need to make it past the pine tree." I didn't see how a tree was going to help us, but I wasn't going to stop running.

About halfway up the hill, things went bad. I felt something, suspiciously like a bus, slam into my side. As I flew/spun through the air I saw Grover get punched another quarter of the way up the hill. When I hit the ground, my vision tunneled. I tried to stand immediately but fell back to my knees.

After my vision cleared, I got a closer look at the thing. 'It' was a huge guy with an even bigger head. There were things sticking up from its head like antennae. Horns. It had a snout and face like a bull… The Minotaur. One of, if not the most, famous monsters in history. Wasn't it supposed to be dead? It started to close on what I assumed was Grover. I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it. I hesitated for a moment. I was scared. Then the Minotaur raised its hands and formed them into fists to crush Grover.

"HEY! OZONE KILLER! OVER HERE!"

It turned, roar/mooed, and charged. Not one of my best ideas, but I didn't have a choice. As the beast got close my body went on autopilot. I charged forward to meet him in the last few feet, sidestepped his huge fist, ducked under the other, and slashed at his leg as I ran past him towards Grover. As I reached him, I turned to see the Minotaur where I left him still kneeling and bleeding. I bent down and pulled Grover up.

"Come on buddy. We can make it."

Apparently, the Minotaur was a lot faster and quieter than I thought because we suddenly got hit again. The hit seemed softer but larger somehow. The pain made me drop Riptide and let go of Grover. I landed beside the big pine tree. The feeling of something stabbing into my thigh and side exploded into existence. I stood as quickly as I could manage and began my visual search for Riptide. It was in the perfect position of right in between the Minotaur's feet. Well. Guess I'll die.

Suddenly the black, red, and yellow lightning were back. Then as quick as it came it was gone and a black, single edged, straight spine sword was left in its place. What had Mr. Br- Chiron called it in lecture? A kopis? No. That wasn't right is starts with a 'm'. A macarena? No. A makhaira. That's it.

I looked back at the Minotaur as it sniffed the air. It should be able to see me. Why wasn't it coming to kill me? Was it blind? I stood slowly and eased the sword out of the dirt. No change from the big guy. If he couldn't see me, he would have a really hard time tracking me if I went slow enough that the rain drowned out my footsteps and he wasn't having any luck with the booger monster that was his nose. I had barely gotten within striking distance when the Minotaur let loose another roar/moo and swung both hands at me in a large sweeping motion. I rolled under the strike and returned it with a downward chop cutting off one horn. Instantly he put one of his hands up to the stump. It was an opening, but it was on the wrong side. I repeated my previous motion and the second horn fell the same as the first. He had both hands feeling the stumps. That was my opening. I stabbed at his chest but as soon as I broke the skin the sword deflected downward and lodged in his stomach. Maybe I hit a rib? I had to let go of the sword as the Minotaur brought both hands down in a clapping motion, like a toddler trying to smash a mosquito. I rolled between his legs and a few feet further. I started to get up on one knee when I felt something cold under the knee that was still on the ground. The glowing bronze blade of Riptide was there. In one fluid motion, I grabbed the handle, stood up, lunged and then with everything I had left stabbed Riptide into the upper back of the Minotaur. Just like Mrs. Dodds, the Minotaur turned to golden sand and blew away. I fell, front first, to the ground with the two swords, exhausted.

As I turned myself over, to look at the sky, the rain started coming down even harder. It felt good. Cool against my overheated body. I could feel my thigh, side, and aching hands start to numb. I closed my eyes and the pounding in my head turned to a dull thudding.

Maybe this was okay. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this whole demigod thing. I was still haunted by Mrs. Dodds and demigods were supposed to do this kinda thing all the time? Could I do that? No. I was a coward. I nearly just got my best friend killed because I was a coward. I hoped Grover was going to be okay. Yeah, this was okay. Best for everybody I don't get another chance to mess up and get someone killed.

The rain stopped hitting my face. Just my face. I managed to force one eye open. Grover was there staring down at me. I did my best to crack a grin but that just made Grover look more worried.

From there I only remember bits and pieces. At some point, Grover had pulled me up and put one of my arms around his shoulders. He was basically dragging me. From what I remember, I did the best I could, but my legs just refused to work properly. The last thing I remember before blacking out completely was trying to get up the front steps of a really big house.

**(AN: Totally wasn't thinking about ending the chapter here at all…)**

"Hmm… A son of the sea. Interesting."

I tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. It was dark. Darker than anywhere I had ever been to before. Was I dead?

"Who's there?"

"Eventually? A friend but for now I am no one of importance to your demigod. Fortunately for both of us, you are not dead."

"Are you reading my mind?"

"We are in your mind. Of course, I am reading your mind."

"Oh. Why is it so dark?"

"Well it is not completely your mind part of this is a representation of where I am and part of it is your mind. You are so close to death that your brain doesn't have much more input than your consciousness to give. But enough of that. How are you feeling?"

"Well, you just said I was dying so I don't think I'm doing too well."

"HAHAHA. I said that you were close to death not dying. You are not getting any closer to death. In fact, you are making quite the speedy recovery. I meant how are you doing mentally?"

"Haven't really had time to think about it."

"Mhmm."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You had your last night at Yancy, the entire day of riding in an automobile, and days spent lying in that bed you're in now, but you haven't thought about it?"

I stopped to think about that for a moment and opened my mouth to say something when I felt another presence enter my mind. At first, it seemed like just a presence then everything erupted in pain. There was so much noise, like a hurricane.

"Looks like we're out of time. Get well soon."

I opened my eyes but then immediately closed them again. The light was too much. I sat up and shielded my eyes. After I gave them some time to adjust my eyes started working like normal. I looked around and saw that I had been laying in a bed like the voice said. Looking around some more I saw I was in a small room. One window. One door. Chest of drawers. The light in the middle of the ceiling was off so the only light source was the window. I had to have been here for at least two nights and a day for that storm to have passed through. Or days like the voice had said. I stood. Both my legs and the floorboards groaned.

I could feel my face turning red. I was in only boxers. Examining my body more closely I noticed my hands, thigh, and side were bandaged. Deciding I needed clothes, I walked over to the chest of drawers. On top I found my old pair of Nikes', a pair of socks, a new orange "Camp Half-Blood" t-shirt, a new pair of jeans, and what looked to be a super-sized shoe box. I put on the clothes first and then opened the box. There was two white with black tips horns in it. The Minotaur. I cut his horns off.

I put the lid back on the box. I felt something in the pocket of the jeans. Holding the box in one hand I stuck my hand into my pocket. I pulled out a familiar pen, Riptide, and a pitch-black wallet with a chain that was also black. What? This wasn't mine. My thoughts went back to the black makhaira. I opened the wallet. There was about $200 cash in the big pocket, two cards in the middle small pocket, and a loose note.

"Don't lose the cards. The wallet and chain will always return to you like Riptide. If things are left outside the wallet, they will not be taken with it when it moves back to you. The PIN for both cards it 0818. The black one you use as a credit card. The red one is an ATM card, basically, use this whenever you need more cash. Don't worry it works at every functioning ATM. Remember about the small pouches, drachma on the right, denarii on the left. The cards should have more money than you should ever need unless you try to pay off the national debt or something like that. It probably goes without saying but keep this to yourself except for one person. You will know them when you meet them. -Rube Fi Out

P.S To get the sword put the wallet in your pocket and attach the chain to a belt or belt loop then pull on the chain. If you need it to go back to being a chain drop it and it will go back in a few minutes."

I put everything back in the wallet where it was except the note which I put with the cash. I put the whole wallet in my front left pocket and attached the chain to the belt loop on my hip. Riptide was placed in my front right pocket. I liked that as just a sword more.

I did what I could to mentally prepare myself for what was essentially demigod boot camp. When I opened the door there was a short hall with a few more doors and a set of stairs down. I chose the stairs. Looking around I found what I think was the front door and exited the building. I stepped out on to the porch and recognized those damn steps. I looked right, nothing. I looked left and found Chiron, Grover, and a pudgy guy playing some kind of cards.

"Ah. Percy you're awake. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

**[AN: DONE! Chapter 4 is done. More questions because I can.**

**1\. ****Should I do shorter updates but update more often or keep going like I am and gradually make them longer and longer?**

**2\. ****Who should Percy be with?**

**3\. ****Who should Percy take on his quest with him?**

**4\. ****How long should the quest take approximately?**

**5\. ****Should Percy have his 'demigod dreams'?**

**6\. ****Should I keep dropping little hints to my future plans?**

**7\. ****Should there be any non-canon characters?**

**8\. ****When should the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians meet?**

**9\. ****Who liked my nickname for the Minotaur?**

**10\. Am I keeping a good pace for the story?]**


	6. Chapter 5

**[AN: Thank you to the 6 people that favorited and 7 that followed. Thank you to Anonymously96, Nordia Gral, solidsnake45, and lumix68 for reviewing.**

**To solidsnake45: Clarisse on the quest. Hmm. I never thought about that as an option until reading your review. Thank you. If/when I introduce non-canon characters, I promise I will not be that guy to hit you with 18 of them in a 1500-word chapter. I was thinking 3 max (this book) and I would leave big gaps in between introductions. Cameos. Yeah, I was thinking of having Percy and crew meet Jason and Reyna, on their quest to get the weapons from the H. L. Hunley, in Charleston during BotL storyline, maybe. Thank you for all the input.**

**To lumix68: If I remember correctly, Percy met Carter first in Son of Sobek and only told Annabeth. She kept that quiet until she met Sadie. I was planning on following that type of patterns like my previously mention plan for meeting Jason and Reyna. Katie Gardener. You're right that it's rare. That'd be hard as hell to work. If Percy ends up with Katie, I obviously took your advice. If not, I did not ignore you, I just couldn't figure a good way to write it. Thank you for the input.**

**I can't believe no one asked about the lightning, the voice in Percy's dream, or the wallet. I mean the answer would have always been that I wasn't going to spoil stuff for you guys but at least I thought it was an interesting thing to add.**

**Ozone Killer- Reference to how cows, in the USA at least, are the largest source of methane emissions and methane bonds with oxygen breaking down the ozone on a chemical level. Everybody talks about that fact every Earth Day, so it was fresh in my mind from like a week ago.]**

**Chapter 5: So, Demigods Aren't Technically into that Freaky S***?**

"Um. Thanks. I think." My voice sounded weird.

"Well. I think we covered most of the things on the orientation film at Yancy. All to do now is the tour. Are you up to it Percy?" Chiron asked.

"I think so," I turned to Grover, "how are you feeling?"

"You're asking me how I'm feeling? You're the one that killed the Minotaur, nearly bled out, and just woke up from a coma. You're asking how I'm feeling?"

"You're my friend and the Minotaur hit you pretty hard. Until now I wasn't sure if you were okay or…"

"I'm fine Percy."

"Look at that." The pudgy guy said. "A hero that actually cares about his friends. That's not something you see every day. Pity it will probably die before he does."

I looked closer at the guy. He thinks I'm going to stop caring about my friends?

"Who are you?"

"Are you sure you can or want to know? Names have power. Until you are sure you can call me Mr. D, child."

"You sure it's not Mr. C? As in Mr. Coward because you're too afraid to say your own name." **(AN: Not the best I know but Percy is 12 at this point so…)**

The guy finished off his can of Diet Coke, crumpled it, and tossed it on the table. Turning to look at me for the first time he spoke, "It stands for Dionysus, as in the god. Now," he looked me directly in the eyes and images started flashing in my mind. Parties turned to slaughters. Men turning into dolphins. Soldiers turning on each other from madness. "… knowing that would you like to keep disrespecting me?"

I decided I didn't like this guy. He was trying to bully me into submission.

"You, a god?"

"Percy." Chiron said with a warning tone.

I understood what he was saying. If I kept going it could get me killed or worse.

I managed to force out a, "No, sir." and Mr. D turned back to his card game.

Chiron placed his cards on the table and rose from it.

"Follow me Percy."

**-Time Skip-**

**(AN: I tried writing the tour like seven times and couldn't find a way for it not to sound useless/boring. I'm sure you guys know the basics volleyball, strawberry fields, Pegasus stables, mess hall, woods, lake, bathrooms, amphitheater, arena, and archery range.)**

We started making our way back to the Big House. Chiron had talked about the landmarks and some of their history, the gods, monsters, and other demigod things. It was pretty useful stuff. Chiron was friendly about the whole thing until I asked about the Titans, now we were walking in awkward silence.

As we got closer to the Big House, I saw a girl sitting on the railing. She had blonde hair and was reading a book.

"Ah, Annabeth. I have a masters archery class in a few minutes. Could you show Percy to Cabin Eleven?"

The the girl looked up from her book recognized Chiron and then looked at me.

"Sure Chiron."

Chiron galloped off to the archery range. The girl, Annabeth, closed her book and hopped down from the railing.

"Hi, I'm Percy." I said, trying to be polite.

"I know and you drool in your sleep."

How did she know…

"Wait you were watching me sleep?"

She blushed.

"When you were in a coma some of the campers, like me, took turns feeding you ambrosia and nectar to help you heal."

"Ambrosia and nectar?"

"Food of the gods. Helps gods and demigods heal but burns mortals to dust."

At this point we were at an old cabin. Brown wood, peeling paint, and a big number eleven over the door.

"Well go on." Annabeth said.

I open the door and saw kids everywhere. On the bunks, on the floor, sitting at desks, and leaning against the wall. Stepping further inside I heard the floor creak indicating Annabeth must have been right behind me.

"Regular or undetermined?" someone shouted from the back.

"What?" I asked.

"Undetermined." Annabeth said.

There was a groan as if it came from the cabin itself, which was entirely possible. A guy about eighteen or nineteen pushed his way to the front.

"Alright, alright everybody calm down. Hi, I'm Luke."

"I'm Percy." I responded as I shook his hand.

Annabeth gave Luke a look. "Maybe we should get out of this stuffy cabin," Luke said and then herded Annabeth and me out the door. **(AN: Anyone else just realizes how creepy it was for Luke to love Annabeth in BotL and TLO? There's almost a seven-year difference between them. So, assuming Annabeth is about the same age as Percy when Luke gained the Curse of Achilles, he, a 21-year-old, had a crush on a fourteen-year-old. F*** that. I am not about that medieval pedophile crap. Forget what I said about a possible PercyxLuke story. Gods are different. They never grew up or had a different mentality. For example, how they argue about petty bs every council meeting.)**

Once out the door, Annabeth said, "I'll see you later Luke." And took off.

"Sorry about that." Luke apologized.

"What?"

"The cabin. Once you get to know them, you'll like them, but they get kinda annoyed with everyone getting packed into the Hermes cabin."

"Oh." Smart and precise. I know.

"Grover told me you were pretty good with a sword."

"I wouldn't know."

"How could you not know?"

"I'm not really sure what counts as good. Other than fighting the Fu- I mean Kindly One and the Bull Guy, I never held a sword."

"How about we go to the arena and if no one is there we get a little practice in? We'll worry about getting you a sleeping bag and toiletries later."

About half an hour later and a few bruises, Luke decided to start teaching me a few tricks.

"Your basic footwork, slashing, and stabbing is pretty good. A natural, even better than me when I started. But you need to be able to at least understand the complicated things, so they aren't used against you." He went on for a bit about blocks, parries, deflections, and feints. Apparently, he sensed my boredom and decided to try something else. "Here Percy. Hold out your sword. I'm going to show you a disarming maneuver." I got into a defensive stance and he got into position as well and told me to slowly pretend like I was trying to stab him. As I did, he said, "Perfect. Now when you see something like this and don't want to kill the enemy, only disarm them, you thrust your blade forward, lock your swords together, and twist." Demonstrating as he went.

CLANG! My sword was on the ground.

"Think you got it?"

"Sure." I didn't have it.

"Alright then. This time lets have a little spar full speed. The first person to disarm the other wins." Great.

This went on for a few minutes. He was going easy on me. I could tell. Eventually, I saw my opening. I did as he told me and sure enough, his sword fell to the ground. Riptide was a little shorter than Luke's sword and it left a small cut on the back of my hand, but I didn't care. I was happy.

"Go again?" Luke asked as he picked up his sword. He watched me with a bit of a surprise. I was about to say yeah when a voice behind me said, "Maybe you should give Percy a little break, after all, he did just wake up from a coma today."

I turned and saw it was Chiron. Luke sheathed his sword and left the arena. I walked up to Chiron.

"I see you still have Riptide."

"Yeah. I kinda had put it in my pocket at the museum and forgot to give it back." I said as I offered the sword to Chiron handle first, but he shook his head.

"You will get much more use out of it than I." What was that supposed to mean? What did Chiron know that I didn't? "Take a break and rest Percy. And remember that the sword will always return to you in pen form. It may take a few moments, but it will do if you dropped the cap and cannot recap it." Then he galloped away toward the sound of fighting campers. I set the sword on the arena floor and walk a few steps away. About forty-five seconds later the sword disappeared and I felt something in my pocket. I pulled it out and sure enough, there was Riptide. Cool…

Wait. How did the note know? From how Chiron had talked about Riptide when I asked about it when we walked through the camp it seemed he had held it for a very long time. Lifetimes even. So, no one should know its properties other than Chiron, the gods that are familiar with it, and myself. I know the note wasn't from me. First, how could I have given it to myself without already knowing about it? Second, there weren't enough spelling errors for it to be me. Chiron preferred bows and already gave me one weapon. He would have seen no need to give me another. Which leaves the gods. What god goes by Rube Fi? It didn't even sound Greek. Maybe it was a pseudonym like Mr. D. Only part of the name or a nickname maybe. There was also the lightning. The sword came from the lightning. But Zeus is the god of lightning. As Chiron told me the big three don't have demigods anymore.

My head was starting to hurt. I took a look around and saw I wasn't in the arena anymore. I hadn't even realized I was walking. Somehow, I had ended up at the edge of the woods. I decided I didn't feel like dying and started to head back towards the cabins.

**[AN: DONE! Chapter 5 is done. More questions because I can.**

**1\. ****Should I do shorter updates but update more often or keep going like I am and gradually make them longer and longer?**

**2\. ****Who should Percy be with?**

**3\. ****Who should Percy take on his quest with him?**

**4\. ****How long should the quest take approximately?**

**5\. ****Should Percy have his 'demigod dreams'?**

**6\. ****Should I keep dropping little hints to my future plans?**

**7\. ****Should there be any non-canon characters?**

**8\. ****When should the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians meet?**

**Anyone else watch the Flash Finale?**

**This story is over 10,000 words now.]**


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